What good are police cameras if officers get to decide when they are turned on?
There have been many instances where officers from various jurisdictions have failed to activate their body camera in-time to capture crucial footage of shootings and more. Some departments have had to discipline their officers multiple times for failing to activate their cameras.
If the hope was for the cameras to collect footage that would help to hold police accountable for their actions, then it would really help if the camera was turned on so that it could see what the officer was doing. If they neglect to activate the camera, either intentionally or unintentionally, then there will be a clear lack of transparency.
In one mysterious coincidence that took place in Albuquerque, 5 officers claimed that each of their body cameras had malfunctioned and failed to capture footage of a fatal shooting that took place.
As for the body camera footage automatically helping to lead to an indictment, that hasn't been the result to unfold in every scenario either. Just because an officer might have his camera on when turning up at the scene, doesn't mean that the camera is going to capture necessary footage that can help deliver justice and enable those involved to arrive at the truth.
As well, because there are limitations with the cameras, they also haven't prompted a reduction in the use of force like many assumed that they would once implemented. However, if officers have the freedom to choose when the cameras get turned on, then that establishes an opportunity for them to abuse that freedom to cover-up wrongful actions.
The body cameras are just a tool, one that many were hoping might be used to bring more transparency and accountability to law enforcement today; the cameras aren't going to achieve that objective on their own.
Perhaps there would be more opportunity for accountability if the decision to record wasn't left up to the officer on the scene at the time. Whether it's technical issues or neglect to use the tool in the first place, it's obvious that we aren't getting the results with body cameras that we thought we might get. Then there are also the privacy issues that go along with these cameras, and the worry of coupling them with facial recognition software. There are valid concerns for who has access to the footage, where and for how long the footage is kept and so on. The government has spent millions of dollars outfitting various police departments with these cameras, but has it been worth it? If the problem we're looking to tackle is corruption (police accountability) then of course, cameras alone aren't going to solve that issue for us.
Pics:
Pic 1 - Pixabay
Pic 2